Dear one,
Initially I stumbled greatly over an aphorism I thought I understood, until I gave thought to various expressions of wisdom. The aphorism is this:
“And from her children, wisdom is vindicated.” (Luke 7:35).
Wisdom?
The context of this expression is that of John the Baptist’s poignant question of Jesus, “Are you the One?” As he languished in prison, John heard about Jesus’ actions and lifestyle, neither of which brought solace to his heart and mind. He had understood his role: to prepare the way of the Anointed One; to preach a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sin; and to prepare a people who lived in the light of peace.
At moments his words were harsh (e.g. he called his audiences “vipers”), and yet, he counseled humility, the compassionate sharing of resources, just financial transactions, and a willing acceptance of one’s station in life. Although his demeanor was radical, as was his baptism, nonetheless he trod a well-entrenched path, established by many a prophetic forebear. Justice and righteousness were the hallmarks of his message, fully consistent with his declaration: the One coming after me has a winnowing fork in his hand, “to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire” (Luke 3:17).
The wisdom of John?
As he languished, John sent two of his disciples to Jesus, who were to ask, “Are you the Coming One or shall we expect Another?” In answering, Jesus gave a two-fold response: First, to John’s disciples He said: Tell John what you observe: the blind see; the lame walk; the leprous are healed; the deaf hear; the dead are raised; and the poor receive good news. And second, to the crowds about Him, Jesus said: This generation are like children who complain: we played the flute and you did not dance; we mourned and you did not weep. That is, Jesus continued, this generation are those who charged that John was demonized, even though he did not “carouse” (i.e. eat and drink?), and that He, Jesus was a glutton and drunkard, because He did eat and drink (carouse?).
The wisdom of this generation?
In other words, “this generation” are those who live according to a double-bind (e.g. “heads I win, tails you lose”), and will choose to follow neither John’s hard righteousness nor Jesus’ very difficult love for the disreputable. By their unwillingness to choose neither the way of John nor the way of Jesus, the wisdom of “this generation” would be manifest in their children. “We choose to live neither by law nor by love.”
The painful irony for John was that he too had to choose, to recognize and to embrace, or not, the wisdom of God as manifest in Jesus—as manifest in His words and deeds. There was a wisdom of “this generation,” a wisdom of John, and a wisdom of Jesus—and by their descendants will their wisdom be vindicated.
I wonder: Whose wisdom will you choose, and how will your descendants reflect that wisdom?
Pondering,
Stan
Whose wisdom?